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ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE. 



The tenth of September dawned inauspiciously. There had been a 
heavy rain the previous night, throughout the whole Lake coast, and in 
the morning the clouds were lowering, — but the people, in the enthusi- 
asm of their patriotic feelings, were not to be restrained, by the indica- 
tions of a stormy day. Whatever misgivings there may have been, 
among the crowds at the different towns and cities, at the time of their 
embarkation for Putin-Bay, it was dispelled on their arrival. It is im- 
possible to give any satisfactory estimate of the numbers present. Per- 
haps the best idea may be formed, from the number of steamers and 
other water craft which conveyed the multitude. They were loaded to 
their guards, and some of the Sandusky boats made several trips. The 
Western Metropolis from Buffalo — May Queen, North Star and Gov. 
Cushman from Cleveland — Bay City, Arctic, Granite State, Island 
Queen, Bonnie Boat and Pearl of Sandusky — Sea Bird, Forester and 
New York from Toledo, and the Ocean from Detroit; making-, in all. 
with the United States Steamer Michigan, anchored in the Bay, fifteen 
steamers. Besides these, there were two United States Revenue Cut- 
ters, the Jacob Thompson, Capt. Martin, and the Jeremiah S. Black, 
Capt. Ottinger, two steam tugs, and innumerable sail crafts, forming a 
semi-circle about the passenger steamers. The scene was the most im- 
posing ever witnessed on the chain of lakes, and cannot be described. 
The roar of cannon, the strains of music from a half score of brass 
bands, the shouts from thousands of persons whose enthusiasm knew 
no bounds, the waving of handkerchiefs by the ladies, the wilderness of 
streaming flags, the steamers and large sail craft lying at rest, the multi- 
tude of small sails with their white wings spread to the breeze, flitting 
hither and yon on the sparkling waters of the Bay, and the swaying 
mass of human life, combined to produce an effect indescribable. He 
who could witness all this unmoved, is indeed a lamentable stoic. In 
him whose bosom did not glow with honest national pride and patriot- 
ism, our country has an enemy. We, as a people, are safe so long as 
we hang with such enthusiasm upon the noble deeds of those, whose 



2 ANNIVERSARY OF THE Jj^ £ 7" 

bravery and blood have purchased and perpetuated to us the national 
liberty and independence we now so fully enjoy. 

At two o'clock the Monument Association was called to order by 
( !apt Lanman, of the U. S. Steamer Michigan, who officiated as tempo- 
rary President, in the absence of Hon. Lewis Cass, President of the 
Association, and Hon. Ross Wilkins, one of the Vice Presidents, who 
was designated to act as President in case of the regular President's 
absence. 

Maj. Gen. James B. Steedman, Grand Marshal, with assistants from 
all the Lake Cities. 

Dr. Bronson offered up a touching and eloquent prayer, giving, in the 
name of the assembled thousands upon the ground, hearty thanks for 
the success which Almighty God had given to the American arms when- 
ever they had been arrayed, in the name and for the cause of liberty and 
justice, againsts the hosts of oppression and tyranny. That the mon- 
ument, whose corner stone they were that day to lay, would rise in grace- 
ful proportions, from the everlasting foundations of the rock upon which 
it would stand; and as long as the memory of the Hero of the Battle 
would be found in the American heart, so long would the eye turn 
with pride to that structure which, while it would be a land-mark to the 
sailor, would, standing as it did between two great countries, serve as a 
protection against wrong doing, in that it rose to commemorate so great 
a triumph of right over wrong. That it would be a memorial to Great 
Britain and the United States, that'as their language, their religion and 
their God were the same, so the same eternal principles of truth and 
righteousness should govern both nations, and both should have the 
same interests in the promotion of the good of mankind and the glory 
of God. 

After the music from one of the brass bands present, Wm. S. Pier- 
son, of Sandusky, Treasurer of the Association, was introduced, who 
made the following remarks : 

Ladies and Gentlemen: I am requested by the Board of Manage- 
ment, to occupy your time for a few moments, in a statement of their 
doings since the last anniversary. As soon as it was practicable, after 
the permanent organization of the Association, under such favorable 
auspices, at this place, a year ago, a meeting of the Board was con- 
vened at the City of Sandusky. It was. made the duty of the Board, 
consisting of fifty members, in different parts of the country, by the 
Constitution, to appoint an Executive' Committee. Among the other 
acts of that meeting, the Board appointed A. If. Moss, F. T. Barney, 
and J. A. Camp., Esqs., of Sandusky, Hon. Samuel Starkweather, of 



BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE. 5 

Cleveland, M. R. Waite, Esq., of Toledo, Hon. J. V. Campbell, of De- 
troit, Capt. Stephen Champlin, of Buffalo, and Capt. W. W. Dobbin, of 
Erie, as their Executive Committee. 

One of the first and most important duties 'which devolved upon them, 
to which they gave much time, attention and study, was the procure- 
ment and adoption of a suitable plan for the monument. H. P. Mer- 
rick, an architect of Sandusky, furnished to the Committee different de- 
signs for the monument, which were exceedingly creditable to his taste, 
his attainment and skill. They were in the form of an obelisk, and 
were highly appreciated by the Committee, and indeed thought worthy 
of adoption. About this time, however, there was a person in Ohio, 
the fame of whose genius had taken such hold ol the public mind, that 
your Committee, advised by discreet friends of the measure, believed it 
would not be doing justice, either to the talent in our midst, or to the 
enterprise, not to give him a commission. I need hardly mention his 
name, who will share in the fame of our venerable President, the Sec- 
retary of State of the United States, of our most worthy Vice Presi- 
dent, the Chief Magistrate of the State of Ohio, in having given to their 
noble brows and commanding features almost the immortality which 
their exalted virtues and patriotic services have given to their names. 

The Board of Management issued a commission to T. D. Jones, 
Sculptor. How well he fulfilled that commission, let the spontaneous 
and unanimous voice of thousands answer, in their expressions of ap- 
probation and admiration of his design. It has been declared by many, 
who, with cultivated taste, have had the opportunity of foreign observa- 
tion, to vie with the proudest monuments of the Old World, in beauty 
and appropriateness of design. The Board of Management congratulate 
the Association on the emineut success of Mr. Jones, in the conception 
and perfection of his plan ; and they feel proud, that the progress of the 
arts in our country is so illustrated, by his genius, in the West. Don 
Rivera St. Jago, an accomplished Spanish gentleman of the city of New 
York, the proprietor of these islands, has contributed as a free gift, one 
half of Gibraltar, with a declaration that the Association can have the 
whole, if necessary, for the site of the monument; and the Board of 
Management would thus publicly express their acknowledgements and 
obligations to him, and the thanks of the Association, for his generous 
deed. 

Your Committee have devoted much time, to the location of the ex- 
act site of the monument, the laying of the foundation, the preparation 
of the corner-stone, the arrangements for this celebration, the correspon- 
dence with friends of the enterprise throughout the country, and to the 



4 ANNIVERSARY OF THE 

other duties of their appointment, which I cannot take time to relate. 
With regard to the solicitation and collection of subscriptions, which have 
been volunteered, your Treasurer has felt very great sensitiveness, which 
has been sympathized with by the Committee, in making any call on 
the public, before the object of the Association had progressed so far as 
to command the deserved confidence of the country. They preferred, 
therefore, that the expenses, by no means inconsiderable, should be oth- 
erwise defrayed, and not until quite recently made collections — not until 
the site was procured, the plan of the monument adopted, and arrange- 
ments made for laying the corner-stone. What they are now doing 
meets with encouragement. 

Ladies and Gentlemen — Next to the teachings of Scripture and that 
internal consciousness which pervades the human breast, is that great 
argument from design, addressed to our reason, in proof of a great orig- 
inating cause. This manifestation of design presents itself throughout 
all physical nature, and in the great and important events among the 
nations of the earth, there is sufficient to convince the reflecting mind of 
an over-rulino- Providence. 



."3 



When the God of nature made the world, and planted amid the wa- 
ters of Lake Erie these beautiful islands, in such juxtaposition that they 
form this quiet Bay, and there let them remain in undisturbed repose, for 
thousands of years, used only as the fishing and hunting ground of the 
Indian, he did it with the express design that it should be a covert for 
our little navy, in that day of our nation's peril. 

Cast your eye on yonder beautiful island, where we are about to lay 
the corner-stone of the monument. Observe the symmetrical formation 
of Gibraltar — how its rich verdure extends to its rock-girt base. Behold 
its elevation, high above the waters of the Lake — higher than is neces- 
sary, to protect the waters within the Bay from the turbulence of the 
waves without, when maddened by angry winds. See! what a look-out 
there is, and that all around it can be seen, as far as the eye can reach. 
Mark well its firm foundation. It is made of everlasting rock; and re- 
sist the thought, if you can, that it is the design of God's Providence, 
that it shall be a mission of this age, when the people have become re- 
fined and wealthy, grateful to God for the rich heritage of blessings 
which wo enjoy, as the fruit of the sufferings and sacrifices of our fathers 
— reverencing the memory of our fathers for their pure virtues and he- 
roic deeds; that on this foundation of rock a monument shall arise, tow- 
ering aloft towards Heaven, to be seen by every mariner, and every 
traveler, and every seeker after pleasure, or of health, up and down the 



BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE. 5 

Lake and amid these islands, worthy of the Battle of Lake Erie — wor- 
thy of Perry's Victory — worthy of a nation's abounding gratitude. 

The Board of Management most cordially and earnestly invite you 
all, that you co-operate with them, and unitedly and individually do 
your part, in this patriotic duty. 

After a short intermission, filled up with music, Hon. Rufus P. Spal- 
ding, of Cleveland, orator of the day, was introduced to the audience. 



ORATION. 

Felloto Citizens : 

It has been very properly said, that " among the noblest 
of a nation's possessions, is the memory of her great men." 

With equal propriety, it may be affirmed, that the chief claim of a 
country to enduring fame, is the evidence of its great deeds. 

The wonderful Pyramids of Egypt are still standing as monuments 
of human grandeur : They are as nearly indestructible as any produc- 
tion of man's art and invention. But tell me the name of the mighty 
potentate who projected the plan, or put in requisition the incalculable 
amount of muscular and mechanical force necessary to their completion ! 

Yea; tell me, if you can, in what age of the world, and for what 
significant purpose, they were created ? 

You may conjecture: Many have conjectured. But, 

« 'Tis far off; 
And rather like a dream than an assurance, 
That my remembrance warrants. " 

In Grecian history, "the retreat of the ten thousand" is made more 
enduring than marble by the writings of Xenophon; but who does not 
perceive that "Marathon" and "Salamis" will be synonyms with hero- 
ism and patriotism long after the names of Miltiades and Themistocles 
shall have faded from classic lore. 

In our own youthful land, we have no lack of historic men or historic 
deeds, but who will not bear me witness, that, while the battle of Bun- 
ker's Hill will continue to be the "key note" to our country's patri- 
otism, there is reason to believe that the name of Prescott may be 
forgotten ? 

The occasion which calls us together, fellow citizens, is intended to 
perpetuate the knowledge of one of the most brilliant and beneficial 



(j ANNIVERSARY OF THE 

" teats of arms" that has signalized any nation — the battle of Lake Eric, 
in our last war with England. 

It will be pardoned me if I shall advert to one or two causes of bit- 
terness that preceded the declaration of h ; made by the United 
States against Great Britain, on the 18th day of June, 1812. 

We may be permitted to justify our national character, and to indul. 
in sober exultation upon a signal display of American valor, without 
doing violence to the friendly relations that now so happily subsist be- 
tw.cn the people of the two nations. 

During her long continued and stupendous struggles with the French 
Republic and Empire, England had increased her naval force, until she 
assumed a superiority upon the seas, that no single European power had 
the ability to question. 

The romantic heroism of her " Nelson and Bronte." and his trium- 
phant success in the " Battle of the Nile " and at " Trafalgar,"' had ren- 
dered the English armed marine, in the judgment of all Christendom. 
invincible. 

True, they had a rising competitor for the ocean-scepter, in that hard; 
and enterprising people of whom their great orator said, when speak _ 
of their whale-fisheries: 

" While we follow them among the tumbling mountains of ice, and 
behold them penetrating into the deepest frozen recesses of Hudson's 
Bay and Davis' Straits, — while we are looking for them beneath the 
Arctic Circle, we hear that they have pierced into the opposite region 
of polar cold — that they are at the Antipodes, and engaged under the 
frozen serpent of the South. Falkland Island, which seemed too remot.- 
and romantic an object for the grasp of national ambition, is but a stage 
and resting place in the progress of their victorious industry. 

" Nor is the equinoctial heat more discouraging to them than the ac- 
cumulated winters of both the poles. We know that while some of 
them draw the line and strike the harpoon on the coast of Africa, oth- 
ers run the longitude, and pursue their gigantic game along the coast of 
Brazil. No sea but what is vexed by their fi-dierirs. No climate that 
is not witness to their toils. 

•■ Neither the pers.-vrrauce of Holland, nor the activity ot France, nor 
the dexterous and firm sagacity of English enterprise, ever carried this 
most perilous mode of hardy industry to the extent to which it has 

en pu>hed by this recent people — a people who are still, as it were, 
but in the gristle, and not yet hardened into the bone of manhood.'' 

It is believed, that -luring th<- years that distinguished the latter part of 
the administration of Jefferson, and the first part of the term of Madi- 



BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE. 7 

son, her great naval superiority had rendered England supercilious in 
her intercourse with other nations : She was especially so with the Uni- 
ted States, which last government had never been regarded with favor 
l>v George the Third, since the event had occurred which so essentially 
lessened his royal importance, and to which poetic allusion was had by 
the elder Pitt, when he said, in the British Parliament — 

" If his majesty continues to hear such counselors, he will not only be 
badly advised, but undone. He may, indeed, continue to wear his 
crown; but it will not be worth his wearing: — Robbed of so precious a 
jewel as America, it will lose its lustre, and no longer beam that efful- 
gence which should irradiate the brow of majesty." 

For a series of years, the commerce of the United States had been 
subject to depredations by both the great belligerent powers of Europe. 
They both, in their treatment of neutrals, totally disregarded their rights, 
and adopted principles of policy unknown to the law of nations, and 
subversive of the plainest maxims of justice. Each claimed the right 
of destroying the commerce of the other, by interdicting the trade of 
neutrals with their opponent. 

Hence the British orders in council, and the French " Berlin and Mi- 
lan" decrees of 1806-7, under which millions of property was wrong- 
fully captured and confiscated, belonging to citizens of the United States. 
Great Britain put forth, and attempted to enforce another claim, which 
threatened to destroy our commerce, and sap the foundation of our na- 
tional independence. 

She insisted upon the right of boarding and searching the vessels of 
all nations, and taking therefrom any of the sailors who might be sus- 
pected of being British subjects. 

The enforcement of this claim upon vessels of the United States, ope- 
rated with peculiar hardship, on account of the difficulty of distinguish- 
ing between the citizens of our country and the subjects of Great Brit- 
tain; their language and manners being alike. 

Hundreds of native born Americans were thus impressed into the 
English navy, and were there made to drag out a miserable existence. 

Not unfrequently, the manner of its enforcement indicated an entire 
insensibility, on the part of the British cruisers, to the convenience or 
even safety of the vessels overhauled. The just national pride of an 
American citizen, was, in every way, set at naught, and contemptuously 
disregarded. 

On the 25th of April, 1806, the British ship of war Leander, while 
off Sandy Hook, fired upon the sloop Richard, a coasting vessel of the 
United States, and killed the man at her helm. The sloop proceeded 



ANNIVERSARY OF Till: 
o 

to New York, where a jury of inquest was held upon the dead body, 

and a verdict of wilful murder pronounced against the captain of the 

British ship. 

The excitement occasioned by this barbarous act of aggression, upon 

a defenceless and unoffending coaster, was immense. 

But insolent and aggressive assaults like this, were not confined to the 
unarmed merchant vessels of the United States. 

On the 22d of June, 1807, the American frigate Chesapeake, Capt. 
Gordon, bearing the broad pennant of Commodore Barron, got "under 
wav " from Hampton Roads, bound to the Mediterranean. 

The Chesapeake was a small frigate of thirty-eight guns. She is said 
to have been roomy and convenient, but not sufficiently strong for a 
vessel of her dimensions, and her sailing qualities were indifferent: so 
much so, in fact, that she had received from the sailors the sobriquet of 

" the old wagon." 

A British squadron was then lying at anchor in Lynn-haven bay. 

At the time the Chesapeake "let fall her courses," one of the vessels 
of this squadron, the Leopard, of fifty guns, lifted her anchor and stood 
out to sea. When three leagues distant from Cape Henry the Leopard 
having the weather guage, bore down upon the Chesapeake and haded 
her, saying "she wished to place on board of her, despatches for the 
Mediterranean." Commodore Barron replied that he would "heave 

to," and receive a boat. 

Both ships came to the wind, when Captain Humphreys, who com- 
manded the Leopard, sent an officer on board and demanded the sur- 
render of a portion of the Chesapeake's crew, whom he claimed as de- 
serters from the British squadron. 

Commodore Barron replied that he had given orders to his recruiting 
officer to enlist no man who might be supposed to be a deserter from 
the English navy, and he had no knowledge that he had any such per- 
sons on board his ship. He said, further, that he would not sutler his 
crew to be mustered by any but his own officers. 

So soon as this reply was communicated to Capt. Humphreys he 
opened a fire upon the Chesapeake, which was kept up for about fifteen 
minutes, and resulted in the surrender of his ship by Commodore Bar- 
ron, after the return of a single gun, which was discharged by a gallant 
son of Rhode Island, Lieut. Wm. H. Allen, by means of a coal taken 
from the galley, and held in his fingers. So wholly unprepared was the 
Chesapeake for action, that "no match,,, locks or loggerheads were in 
readiness for thr occasion. 

After she had struck her colors, the Captain of the Leopard sent an 



BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE. 9 

officer on board the Chesapeake, who mustered the crew and took from 
them four persons, claimed to be deserters from British men-of-war. 

Three of these men were afterwards proved to be native American 
citizens, who had been wrongfully impressed into the English naval 
service. 

The Chesapeake had three men killed by the fire ef the Leopard, and 
eighteen wounded : she was so much cut up, in her hull and rigging, as to 
be unable to proceed on her voyage. 

We are now prepared, I trust, to understand the full import of the 
rallying cry, afterwards flung to the breeze from many a gallant ship — 

" Free Trade and Sailors' Rights ! " 

The motto is, in itself, an epigrammatic exposition of the points in con- 
test between England and the United States, in the war of 1812. 

The original plan of operations for this war contemplated the speedy 
subjugation of Upper Canada by the United States army; and if this 
project had been crowned with success, there would have been no such 
marked event in the history of our country as " Perry's Victory on Lake 
Erie." 

The inglorious surrender of the North Western Army, by General 
Hull, at Detroit, and the disastrous defeat of General Winchester at the 
River Raisin, had filled the border inhabitants of Ohio and the Western 
Territories with anxiety and alarm. 

Large numbers of Indians were now seen going over to the British, 
who, under other circumstances, would have remained neutral from 
choice, or have been awed into submission by force. 

The situation of the people on the borders of Lake Erie was espe- 
cially alarming. The British army, under the lead of Proctor, with its 
savage allies led by Tecumseh, was in force at the head of the Lake, 
with all its navigation subject to their control. 

The enemy was accustomed to spare neither age, sex nor condition ; 
and there was not a village, nor a dwelling, within twenty miles of its 
southern shore, where the inhabitants could rest in security for a single 
night. 

It became, then, a matter of weighty importance, that a competent 
force should be put in requisition to command the navigation of the 
Lake, whether considered as a measure of defense or of aggression. 

The important and arduous task of creating a fleet, armed and equip- 
ped for the emergency, was confided to Oliver Hazard Perry, Esq., Mas- 
ter and Commander in the U. S. Navy. 

Commodore Perry was born at South Kingston, in the State of Rhode 



1Q ANNIVERSARY OF THE 

Island, on the 23d day of August, 1785. He was the son of Christo- 
pher Raymond Perry, who was himself a Post Captain in the Navy. 
appointed during our troubles with France in 1798. 

The subject of our notice received his warrant as a midshipman in 
April, 1799, and made his first cruise at sea with his father, on board 
the U. S. Ship Gen. Green, a small frigate of 28 guns. 

The beo-innino- of the year 1813 found our hero at Newport, Rhode 
Island, in command of a flotilla of gun boats. Possessing an ardent 
patriotism, and eager for an opportunity to acquire distinction in his 
profession, young Perry addressed a letter to Commodore Chauncey, 
then in command at Sackett's Harbor, and tendered his services, when- 
ever they could be made useful to the country. 

On the first of February he received a letter from Commodore 
Chauncey, informing him that an application had been made to the Sec- 
retary of the Navy to have him ordered to the Lakes. " You are the 
very person," writes the Commodore, "that I want for a particular ser- 
vice, in which you may gain reputation for yourself, and honor for your 

countrv." 

On the seventeenth day of February, he received orders from the de- 
partment to proceed to Sackett's Harbor, and report for duty to Com- 
modore Chauncey, the senior naval officer upon the lakes. 

He continued at Sackett's Harbor, with his senior in command, until 
the sixteenth of March, when he received orders to repair to Erie, Penn- 
sylvania, and hasten the construction and equipment of a squadron of 
armed vessels, at that port. 

He arrived at Erie on the twenty-seventh of March, where he found 
two gun boats nearly planked, one gun boat nearly ready for planking, 
and the keels of two twenty-gun brigs just laid. These were under the 
charge of sailing-master Dobbins, who had commenced the building of 
the vessels, and Mr. Noah Brown, who was the master shipwright. 

On the 28th of May, Commodore Perry was directed to repair to 
Black Rock, and take from thence to Erie some small vessels, belonging 
to the government, which were intended to form a part of his fleet. 

^'ith almost incredible labor-, those vessels were taken up against the 
current to Buffalo, and got under way, at that place, for Erie, on the 
14th of Juno. They consisted of the brig Caledonia, the schooners 
Somers, Tigress and Ohio, and the sloop Trippe. 

By the most watchful vigilance and expert seamanship, Commodore 
Perry succeeded in avoiding the superior force of the enemy, then on 
the alert to intercept his progress, and reached Erie with his little squad- 
ron on the eveniuo- of the eighteenth of June. 



BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE. \\ 

During the previous month of May, the two twenty-gun brigs, one 
called the "Lawrence" and the other the "Niagara," and the three gun- 
boats, had been launched, and were now in a rapid state of completion. 

The timber that entered into the construction of these vessels was 
found in the trees growing on the spot ; and it was no uncommon thing 
to chop down a sturdy oak in the morning, and use it tor planking in 
the evening:. 

On the fifteenth of July, Commodore Perry received orders from 
Washington, to co-operate with General Harrison in the movements he 
was about to make for the recovery of Michigan, and for the invasion 
of Upper Canada. 

His fleet was equipped and ready for sailing, but he had no men. 

He remained in this state of embarrassment several weeks, and em- 
ployed his time in writing letters, and supplicating both Commodore 
Chauncey and the Secretary of the Navy to send him officers and men. 

In the mean time, the enemy had been essentially re-inforced : Their 
fleet had received a new commander, in the person of Captain Barclay, 
a naval officer of great experience and undaunted courage, who had 
fought at Trafalgar, and acquired distinction under the eye of Nelson. 
He had brought with him several accomplished officers, and a goodly 
number of prime sailors. 

Our young Commodore was sufficiently restless under the neglect of 
those whose duty it was to supply him with men : but when Commo- 
dore Barclay showed him the British ensign off the harbor of Erie, his 
impatience knew no bounds. He snatched his pen, and thus he ad- 
dressed his chief-in-command at Sackett's Harbor. 

" The enemy's fleet of six sail are now off the bar of this harbor. — 
Give me men, Sir, and I will acquire both for you and myself honor and 
glory, on this Lake, or perish in the attempt. 

I hope that the wind, or some other cause, will delay the enemy's re- 
turn to Maiden until my men arrive, and I will have them." 

After many and severe trials and disappointments, Commodore Perry 
received his men, passed his vessels over the bar in the face of the ene- 
my, and made his way to the bay of Sandusky; where, on the nine- 
teenth of August, he entertained General Harrison and his staff, and 
Generals Cass and Mc Arthur, on board his flag-ship, the Lawrence. 

From this time until the engagement, the general place of rendezvous 
for our little fleet was " Put-in-Bay," the beautiful sheet of water here 
spread out before you. The Commodore occasionally left his moorings, 
and ran down to Sandusky, to communicate with the army, or up to 



12 ANNIVERSARY OF THE 

Maiden to look after the enemy, but Put-in-Bay was bis favorite road- 
stead. 

Here, on the tenth of September, it was ascertained by the look out 
that the British fleet, in battle array, was approaching. It was made up 
of the Detroit, of 19 guns; the Queen Charlotte, of 17 guns; the Lady 
Prevost, of 13 guns; the Hunter of 10 guns; the Little Belt of 3 guns; 
and the Chippewa of 1 gun: a total of 63 guns, with an effective force 
of five hundred men. 

So soon as the fact of the enemy's approach was reported to Com- 
modore Perry, he ordered the signal made — " Under way to get ! " 

Directly, the whole squadron was under canvas, beating out of the 
harbor, with a light wind from the south west, and boats ahead to tow. 
It consisted of the Lawrence, of 20 guns; the Niagara, of 20 guns; 
the Ariel, of 4 guns; the Caledonia, of 3 guns; the Scorpion, of 2 guns; 
the Somers, of 2 guns; the Porcupine, the Tigress and the Trippe, of 1 
gun each : making a total of 54 guns, with a nominal force of 500 men, 
— one hundred of the number being on the sick list. 

To get the weather gauge of the enemy, it was important to pass to 
windward of yonder island. The wind was ahead and baffling, and the 
Commodore became impatient. He ordered his sailing master, Mr. 
Taylor, to put up his helm and pass to leeward. " In that case," re- 
plied the master, "we must fight the enemy from the leeward." "I 
don't care," cried our hero, "to windward or to leeward, they shall fight 
to-day? As they were about to fill away, the wind suddenly hauled to 
the eastward, and the fleet was enabled to weather the island, as they 
desired. 

At ten o'clock Commodore Perry had his line of battle formed, with 
the Scorpion, Captain Champlin, ahead, and the Ariel, Lieut. Packet, 
on his weather bow. Then came the Lawrence, to engage the flag ship 
Detroit. The Caledonia, Capt. Turner, followed next to try her mettle 
with the Hunter; then came the Niagara, Capt. Elliott, whose business 
it was to engage the Queen Charlotte; and, lastly, the Somers, the Por- 
cupine, the Tigress and the Trippe, which were to engross the attention 
of the Lady Prevost and the Little Belt. 

At this time the British fleet was distant about five miles. 

When about to bear down upon the enemy, Commodore Perry 
mounted a gun-slide, and unfurling his battle flag, called his crew around 
him, and said, "My brave lads! this flag contains the last words of Cap- 
tain Lawrence; shall I hoist it?" "Aye, aye, Sir!" was the. unani- 
mous response; and instantly from the royal masthead, streamed forth 
the blue held, inscribed with letters of light, 



BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE. jg 

"Don't give up the Ship!" 

The flag was hailed with loud and repeated huzzas from the whole line, 
and then— all was still. The hostile fleets were closing 

" Closer, still closer creep the squadrons on, 
Nearer, yet nearer frowns the shotted gun: 
And now the sea-bird's wild, prophetic scream, 
(As o'er the waves his snowy pinions gleam,) 
A moment starts each palpitating crew, 
And bids all hearts express the last adieu." 

At a quarter to meridian, the notes of a bugle on the deck of the De- 
troit, which bore the Commodore's pennant, called forth cheers from the 
whole British fleet. Then a gun from the same ship told that the bat- 
tle had commenced. A second shot took effect upon the Lawrence, 
when the firing became general along the whole British line. 

Commodore Perry ordered his ships to close up and engage; and 
immediately crowded the Lawrence into action, and she became the 
mark for the greater part of the enemy's guns. 

He was most nobly sustained by the Ariel and Scorpion on his wea- 
ther bow, and the Caledonia had gallantly closed with the Hunter; but 
the Niagara did not engage with the Queen Charlotte. 

For a time, the Lawrence received the fire from the long guns of the 
Detroit, and the Queen Charlotte, with occasionally the shots from the 
Hunter. She continued the unequal contest for more than two hours 
directing her batteries, now against the Detroit, and then against the' 
Queen Charlotte, and at times an after gun at the Hunter, until her rig- 
ging was shot away, her sails torn to pieces, her spars wounded and fal- 
ling, her braces and bow-lines cut away, and all her guns but one were 
dismounted. 

Then, and when twenty-two of his brave men were killed, and sixty- 
one lay wounded, out of a hundred and one that were reported for duty 
in the morning, our hero did not shrink from the bloody contest. 

He called to his assistance the purser and chaplain, and with his own 
hands worked the spare gun until it, too, was dismounted, and then- 
he gave up the ship. He gave her into the hands of Mr. Yarnall, his 
gallant first Lieutenant, and, gathering his battle-flag around him,' de- 
scended to his boat. 

He was rowed to the Niagara, and as he planted his foot on her deck, 
the cheers of the enemy proclaimed the surrender of the Lawrence! 
The triumph of the foe was of short duration. 

Our gallant Commodore, finding himself in a sound ship, run up his 
nag, hove out his signal for close action, and bore down upon the Brit- 



. , ANNIVERSARY OF THE 

14 

ish line. As she approached -the Detroit, that vessel attempted "to 
ware," and in doing so "fell foul" of the Queen Charlotte, when both ves- 
sels received from the Niagara a deadly fire of grape and canmster, at 
half-pistol shot from her batteries. 

Almost at the same instant, the Niagara poured her larboard broad- 
side into the Lady Prevost and Little Belt. Her marines, too were 
taking off every Englishman that showed his head above the railing of 

^'commodore Perry now passed under the lee of the two ships that had 
been foul, and bringing the Niagara upon the starboard tack poured a 
tremendous broadside into the Queen Charlotte and the Hunter. 

By this time our small vessels had come up, and the contest was de- 
cided. At three o'clock the Queen Charlotte displayed a white flag, and 

THE BATTLE WAS WON. 

Commodore Perry retired to his cabin, and wrote the famous despatch 
to General Harrison, which has no parallel in any language save one : 

- Dear General.— We have met the enemy, and they are ours. Iwo 
shins two briffs, one schooner and one sloop." 

Onfce moving of the eleventh, the America, fleet, or rather tke 

combined British and American fleet, made sail for Put-m^ay, where 

the next day, the officers who had fallen in battle were mterred, mth 

utabTe sol mnities, equal respect being paid to those of both nations. 

In the battle, the British had forty-one killed, and ninety-four wound- 

ed : the Americans twenty-seven killed and ninety-six wounded. 

The naval action of Lake Erie was productive of great results. The 
first and more immediate wns, the defeat of the British and Indians, nn- 
d P odor and Tecnmscb, in the battle of the Thames-, and the resto- 
ration of a sense of security to the defenseless inhabits of our widely 

^jTeLded and general benefit was found in the feet that 
Engtnd, who had so long and so loudly predated herself -M.STaKS 
o ' run Skas," was thenceforth eontent to hold a divided empire on dm 
ocean with the young American Republic 

• ho Tiuon" was respected, and « Scon's Rights were secured 
A word of respectful salutation to the honored survivors of the bravo 
men who were so eminently their country's benefactors, on the day we 

meet to commemorate. ' . v ,w,.f„i 

Venerable men! You need no welcome, m words, from the g ml, Id 

thousands who now surround you. The throbbing of the heart- 1. 

„ni„.. ot .he eye-the pressure of the hand-all give evidence that 

o" adhere regarded as no ordinary men. They look upon you-as 



BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE. J5 

the pilgrim looks upon his shrine, or the devotee upon his idol with 

ardent love and reverential homage. 

The people of the Lake country have been taught for years to regard 
Perry's Victory as the great palladium of the bold pioneers, who encoun- 
tered the hardships of the wilderness, and made "darkness light before 
them, and crooked things straight." They regard the victims of the bat- 
tle as martyrs to the cause of public peace and domestic security ; and the 
survivors they look upon as being in the likeness of "just men made 
perfect." They know not how, sufficiently, to do them honor. 

" Some shout him — and some hang upon his car, 
To gaze in his eyes and bless him ; Maidens wave 
Their 'kerchiefs, and old women weep for joy." 

Venerable men! This countless multitude greet you on this joyful 
occasion : They desire to make an offering of their hearts' devotion for 
the unspeakable blessings that were vouchsafed to their fathers, and, by 
inheritance, to themselves, and to succeeding generations, through the 
sufferings, and sacrifices, and heroic exertions, of Perry and his compat- 
riots, on the 10th of September, 1813. 

Fellow Citizens : The association having in charge the grateful work 
of making a monument of stone, significant of the men and deeds that 
have now been faintly delineated, have adopted a design, presented to 
their hands by T. D. Jones, Esq., a distinguished sculptor of Cincinnati. 
It represents a naval column, one hundred and sixty feet in heio-ht, 
adorned with a capital of "ship's prows," and surmounted by a statue 
of Perry, standing on a "capstan." 

If carried to completion, it will rise two hundred feet above the sur- 
face of Lake Erie, and speak "in granite tones" to myriads yet unborn, 
the story of its great naval battle. 

They have chosen this anniversary occasion as the time, and yon Gib- 
raltar Rock as the place, from which the monumental pile shall be<nn 
its rise. , 

The Most Worshipful Grand Master of Masons in Ohio, finding the 
corner stone to bs "well formed, true and trusty," will this day lay 
it in its resting place, with that peculiar skill 

"That none but craftsmen ever knew." 

•' With solemnities suited to the occasion ; with prayers to Almighty 
God for his blessing, and in the midst of this cloud of witnesses, we 
have begun the work." 

By the united efforts of a great and prosperous people, let the shaft 
ascend, in ample dimensions and in chaste proportions, until the comple- 



16 



ANNIVERSARY OF THE 



ted structure shall be significant of the strength of virtuous resolution, 
and the loftiness of heroic enthusiasm, and the purity of patriotic devo- 
tion, that so pre-eminently distinguished our beloved countrymen, who 
enacted the achievement it will serve to illustrate and perpetuate. 

At the close of the oration, the Cleveland Glee Club was called for- 
ward by the President of the clay, and sung the following patriotic song, 
written for the ocoasion by Ossian E. Dodge. It was received by the 
vast audience with the most enthusiastic cheers, which told how each 
heart throbbed with fire, as the singers poured forth their voices in the 
grand chorus. Every breast throbbed in sympathy with the song, which 
is as follows: 

Just forty-six years now have fled, 

Since Perry, young and bold, 
Fought bravely, and for freedom bled, 

And thus his victory told. 

CHORUS. 

Hurra! hurra! tra la la la la la, 
We freely brave the tyrant's powers, 

Hurra ! hurra ! tra la la la la la, 
We've met the enemy and they're ours. 

Applause or praise with flattering tongue 

Brave Perry ne'er did court, 
But when the victory he had won, 

This was his plain report — 

CHORUS. 

Hurra! hurra! tra la la la la la, &c. 

Whene'er opponents of the free 

Are on our waters found, 
Our gallant sons of liberty 

Will thus the air resound — 

CHORUS. 

Hurra! hurra! tra la la la la la, &c. 

But now with England we're at peace, 

And free from toil and care; 
We'll strive the Union to increase, 

And rill with strains the air — 

CHORUS. 

Hurra! hurra! tra la la la la la, &c. 

our love for peace and brotherhood 

Comes from the God above; 
For evil let us render good, 

And conquer all with love. 

CHORDS. 

Hurra! hurra! tra la la la la la, &C. 



EATTLE OF LAKE ERIE. 17 

A benediction was then pronounced by Rev. J. B. Walker, of San- 
dusky, after which there was a grand display of the military present — the 
Cleveland Grays, Detroit Light Guards, the Sandusky Yagers, an artil- 
lery company from Cleveland, and one from Toledo, the Sandusky Ar- 
tillery Company, and other companies — under the direction of Major 
General J. A. Jones, Norwalk, of the 17 th Division Ohio Volunteer 
Militia, accompanied by his own staff, and Brig. Gen. H. N. Bill, of 
Sandusky, and staff. 

Upon the stand, with many distinguished persons, there were four old 
soldiers who were with Perry in the Battle of Lake Erie : 

Dr. W. F. Taliaferro, of Kentucky, who was in the Somers. 

Wm. Blair, of Pa., who was in the Niagara, and has a silver medal 
presented by the State of Pennsylvania. 

Benj. Fleming, of Erie, who was in the Niagara. 

John Tucker, of Kentucky, who was in the Caledonia. 

Wm. Coleman, of Euclid, was in the war, but not in that battle. 

The Masons, under direction of Foster M. Follett, Esq., Assistant 
Marshal of the day, then proceeded, in full regalia, with all their appro- 
priate emblems, to Gibraltar, where the corner-stone of the Monument 
was duly laid, with the imposing ceremonies peculiar to that order, by 
J. N. Burr, D. G. Master, of the Free and Accepted Masons of the 
State of Ohio, assisted by the craft. The following articles were placed 
in an air-tight copper box within the corner-stone. 

BY THE MONUMENT ASSOCIATION. 

Declaration of Independence. 
Constitution of the United States. 
Constitution of the State of Ohio. 

Constitution of the Battle of Lake Erie Monument Association. 
Names of the President, Vice President of the United States, mem- 
bers of the Cabinet, and the principal officers of the Army and Navy. 
Senators and Members of Congress of the United States. 
Governor and other officers of the State of Ohio. 
Officers of this Association. 
History of the Battle of Lake Erie. 
Programme of this day's proceedings. 
Coins of the United States. 
Papers of the day. 

BY THE MASONS. 

Holy Bible. 

Book of the Masonic Constitution. 



-j^g ANNIVERSARY OF THE 

Constitution and By Laws of the Grand Lodge of Ohio. 

Bv Laws of Science Lodge No. 50 Free and Accepted Masons, San- 
dusky City. 

Papers of the day. 

And so ended the celebration, which was a right noble one, worthy 
its hero, and worthy the attention of the many thousands who joined 
in it. May each succeeding one be more and more fully attended, and 
more full of interest. 



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